title: Smart wireless continence management system for persons with dementia.
abstract: Incontinence is highly prevalent in the elderly population, especially in nursing home residents with dementia. It is a distressing and costly health problem that affects not only the patients but also the caregivers. Effective continence management is required to provide quality care, and to eliminate high labor costs and annoyances to the caregivers resulting from episodes of incontinence. This paper presents the design, development, and preliminary deployment of a smart wireless continence management system for dementia-impaired elderly or patients in institutional care settings such as nursing homes and hospitals. Specifically, the mote wireless platform was used to support the deployment of potentially large quantities of wetness sensors with wider coverage and with dramatically less complexity and cost. It consists of an intelligent signal relay mechanism so that the residents are free to move about in the nursing home or hospital and allows personalized continence management service. Preliminary results from a trial in a local nursing home are promising and can significantly improve the quality of care for patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore. apwaung@i2r.a-star.edu.sg
authors.forename: Aung Aung Phyo
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Wai
authors.forename: Victor Foo Siang
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Fook
authors.forename: Maniyeri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jayachandran
authors.forename: Jit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nugent
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mulvenna
authors.forename: Jer-En
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Philp Yap Lian
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Kiat
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D016496:Incontinence Pads; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*